A history of California and an extended history of its southern coast counties, also containing biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present, Volume II, Part 43

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company
Number of Pages: 1234

USA > California > A history of California and an extended history of its southern coast counties, also containing biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present, Volume II > Part 43

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The marriage of W. P. Martin was solemnized at Gainesville, Tex., and united him with Mildred Washington Walker, who was born in South Car- olina and is a woman of exceptional education and culture. They are the parents of three children now living, namely : Harry Lee, whose name in- troduces this article and who is secretary of the Inglewood Water Company; Mary Nina, princi- pal of the Inglewood high school; and Mildred Purnell, now a student in the Los Angeles high school. While living in Texas, Mr. Martin was initiated into the Masonic order. In religion he believes in Baptist doctrines. He is a Jeffersonian Democrat and a member of the Los Angeles Home League. Of late years he has acquired various property interests in Los Angeles, which the general rise in real estate values has made quite valuable. Loyalty to his country is one of his predominant traits, and it comes to him by inheritance from patriotic ancestors. On both sides he had five great- grandfathers in the Revolutionary war. His wife's mother was a Miss Dean, descended from Major Thomas Farrow, a Revolutionary officer. His father-in-law, William Walker, was proprie-

tor of the Pacolet iron mills near Spartanburg, S. C., now one of the largest iron mills in the south.

The eldest of three children now living, Harry Lee Martin was born in Waco, Tex., January 24, 1875, and received his primary education in his native town. After coming to the Pacific coast he attended the Baptist College in Los Angeles and for a year was a student in the academic de- partment of the University of Southern Califor- nia, after which he entered the classical depart- ment of the institution, from which he was grad- nated in 1896 with the degree of A. B., and with the first honors of his class and the appointment of valedictorian. After completing his education he spent two years in the employ of his uncle, I. T. Martin, and then bought what was left of the Union iron works on First street, where he began to work up a business in the manufacture of foundry supplies. A year later he sold the plant to D. P. N. Little, the present owner. Short- ly afterward he joined with others in organizing the Guarantors Investment Company, Incor- porated, of which he was the first president and still holds that office, although since the spring of 1904 he has given the management of the or- ganization into other hands.

The Inglewood Water Company, of which H. L. Martin was one of the incorporators, bought the holdings of A. C. Freeman at Inglewood, comprising seventeen hundred acres of land and the water supply for Inglewood. In January, 1903, Mr. Martin began the management of the company's property, since which time the water capacity has been doubled by means' of an in- creased supply of wells. The Orpington tract, the Inglewood Poultry Colony, and three other subdivisions comprising in all some one hundred and twenty-five acres, have been laid out by the company and the ground is sold to home-seekers. Mr. Martin aided in the organization and is a director of the First State Bank of Inglewood. be- sides being secretary of the James Cook corpora- tion, owners of a wool-pulling factory in Los An- geles.

The residence erected in Inglewood by Mr. Martin in 1904 is presided over by Mrs. Martin, formerly Miss Daisie E. Cook of Los Angeles. daughter of James Cook, and a native of Marys- ville, Cal. There are two daughters of the union, named Virginia Lee and Winifred Louise. Though not a partisan in his opinions Mr. Mar- tin has the courage of his convictions and never loses an opportunity to cast his ballot for the candidates and principles of the Republican par- tv. At one time he was honored with the presi- dency of the Alumni Association of the Univers- ity of Southern California and also he has been actively associated with the work of the Sigma Chi fraternity. Among the people of his county,

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where so much of his active life has been passed, he has a host of friends who possess every confi- dence in his ability and his prospects for increas- ing success.

MRS. KATE C. McCORMICK. One of the show places of Los Angeles county is the famous grape vine at San Gabriel, the largest in the world, covering nearly five thousand square feet, and over five feet in circumference, its roots ex- tending more than two hundred feet in every di- rection. It is composed of one root and three branches and in the early days was known as "El Paron de la Trinidad" (Trinity vine-three in one). It never receives irrigation or cultivation and owing to this and its dense foliage the grapes are small but a large crop is secured each year. The grapes make excellent medicinal wine, and also jelly; the leaves, some of which measure twelve inches across, are used by the natives for fevers and headaches. This vine, which grows in the "patio" of the San Gabriel adobe hotel, one block from the mission church, is said to have been a full grown plant as early as 1750, it being an impossibility to estimate its age with any degree of accuracy.

This property is owned by Mrs. Kate McCor- mick, a most estimable lady, whose residence in this section has been prolific of much practical help and sympathy to those who needed friends, for that she is to all who call upon her. She was born in Keenansville, Canada, near Toronto, and when three years old was taken to the United States by her parents. Her father, John Pon- sonby Bayly, located his family in Wisconsin, from which state with a son, Robert Bayly, he joined the famous Van Veet party and came over- land to California in 1852, and after their arrival in Downieville engaged in the mines in the north- ern part of the state. He remained on the Pa- cific coast for five years, when in 1857 he re- turned to Wisconsin. Some time later, with a government surveying party, he again started westward, and neither he nor the party were ever heard from afterward. It was thought that they had been destroyed by the Indians, although noth- ing definite was ever learned. Mr. Bayly had al- ways been a great traveler, visiting many points of interest in Africa and South America. His wife was Mary Keenan, a native of County Ty- rone, Ireland, and born of this union were six children, four of whom are now surviving: Mrs. Elizabeth Hannon, of Chicago; Mrs. Margaret McClave, of Benton Harbor, Mich .; William T., of Duluth, Minn .; and Mrs. Kate C. McCormick, of this review. By a previous marriage Mr. Bayly had two children, Robert and Frances. Robert Bayly, who came west with his father in 1852, drifted to the southern portion of the state

and here pre-empted a government claim, which in 1869 he sold to a Mr. Hastings, the property known today as the Hastings ranch. He then purchased the grapevine property in San Gabriel, where he made his home until 1884, when he re- turned to Chicago, then the home of the family, and on account of his impaired health he brought back to California his sister, Kate C. The brother. dying in 1895 the sister became the owner of this . well known property, which she now owns.

On the 24th of December, 1870, Kate C. Bayly became the wife of Joseph T. McCormick; he was born in La Fargeville, N. Y., and received his education in the public schools of Watertown, same state. In 1869 he left his native state and going to Chicago became associated with a job printing firm. After the Chicago fire he became partner in the Illinois Staats Zeitung Job Printing Company, and after several years, he with Franz Gindele withdrew, establishing The Gindele & McCormick Job Printing Company. In 1879 on account of failing health he went to Col- orado and the following year his death occurred in that location. He was taken back to Chicago for interment. Mrs. McCormick has three sons, Cyrene, William T. and Edgar Bayly. Besides the property in San Gabriel, Mrs. McCormick is also interested in real estate in Glendora, Mon- rovia, Santa Monica and Chicago. She is a mem- ber of the Catholic Church at San Gabriel, and gives of her means and time freely to all its char- ities and upbuilding enterprises. She is a woman of rare worth, intelligent and educated, and qual- ities of heart equal to those of mind. She is a friend to all who are in need and nothing gives her more happiness than to minister to those in distress. To know her is to hold her in highest esteem.

JOHN LEMBERGER. Among the prom- inent citizens of Redlands mention belongs to John Lemberger, who is now engaged as a horti- culturist in the vicinity of this place. He is a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, his birth having occurred near Schoendorf February 17, 1821 ; his father, John G. Lemberger, was a civil engineer who brought his family to America in 1832 and in the vicinity of Philadelphia followed farming. Later he was similarly engaged in Darke county, Ohio, where his death eventually occurred. His wife was formerly Elizabeth Magdalene Hott- man, a native of Germany also, her death occur- ring later in Iowa. They were the parents of five sons and one daughter, of whom John Lem- berger is the fourth in order of birth and the only one now living.

About ten years old when brought to America, John Lemberger received his education in the public schools of Pennsylvania. At the age of

John Cleminson

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

eleven years, however, he was apprenticed to learn the trade of a tobacconist and completed the work in four years, after which he worked as a journeyman until 1847. He then engaged for himself in Cambridge, Ind., remaining in that location for about nine years, when in 1856 he became a farmer in Boone county, same state. Two years later he removed to Beardstown, Ill., and there worked at his trade of tobacconist un- til 1878. In the last named year he went to Pana, Ill., and followed a similar enterprise, then disposing of his interests in 1893 he came to Cal- ifornia and purchased a ten-acre ranch which had just been set to navel oranges, and since that time has been actively identified with the horti- cultural interests of this section. He is interested in the Crafton Water Company, from which he receives water for the irrigation of his property.

In Cambridge City, Ind., Mr. Lemberger was united in marriage with Miss Caroline Chartel, a native of Pennsylvania, and they became the parents of the following children: Susan, Mrs. Rucher, of Crafton; Nina, wife of a merchant of Poplar Bluff, Mo .; Frank, of Reno, Nev .; Lillie, who died in Redlands; Katie, at home; Annie, Mrs. Glasgow, of Pana, Ill .; Ella, Mrs. Wheeler, of Ladd, Ill .; and Charles, of Pana, Ill. Mr. Lemberger is identified fraternally with the Odd Fellows, of Beardstown, Ill., and politically in- clines to the principles of the Republican party, although he reserves the right to cast his ballot for the man he considers best qualified for official position.

JOHN CLEMINSON. The Cleminson family are prominent citizens of Los Angeles county, where the pioneer, John Cleminson, established the name at an early date in the history of California, two succeeding genera- tions serving to keep alive the records and deeds of their ancestor, who proved himself worthy to cope with the trials and hardships of a new land. The pioneer, John Cleminson, Sr., was a native of England, who, in 1812, came with his father to St. John's, New Bruns- wick. whence they made their way to the United States, and finally located in Louis- ville, Ky. Later, in Lexington, Lafayette county, Mo., he engaged in teaching school, then worked as a cabinet-maker and carpenter. Removing to Galena, Ill., he made his home in that section until 1852, when he came to Cali- fornia and engaged with his older son, James, in farming, first in San Bernardino county, then in El Monte, his death occurring in the latter place in 1879, at the age of eighty years. His wife, formerly Lydia Lightner, was born in Lancaster, Pa., and went to Missouri with her parents. Her death occurred in 1873, at

the age of seventy-three years. She left a family of four daughters and two sons, of whom two daughters and the two sons are still surviving.

John Cleminson, Jr., was born in Hancock county, Ill., December 8, 1842, the youngest in the family of his parents, and was but ten years of age when he accompanied the family across the plains. Leaving Illinois in the fall of 1851, they went to Missouri, where they wintered, and in the early spring the company collected their belongings and outfitted for the tedious journey. Their route lay through the Indian Territory, Socorro, N. Mex., and Arizona. Just before they reached the latter place the Apaches stampeded their cattle, leaving but half enough to draw their wagons, and three days later one of the number was murdered while gathering fuel. They re- mained a few days at Santa Cruz to rest up, then moved on to San Xavier Del Sac Mission and on to Tucson, one of the largest towns they passed through. This was a post for Spanish soldiers, who kept on the watch for the Indians. Here was witnessed the crude method of grinding corn with stones. The only money in circulation was a copper cent about the size of a twenty-five cent piece. They remained in Tucson several months, then came on by the Pemos Indian Village, Maricopa Wells and crossed the Gila river about the point where it empties into the Col- orado. Here they had to give nearly every- thing they possessed to be ferried across and waited on the opposite bank until a govern- ment train came along, when they were taken to San Diego. Thence they made their way to San Bernardino county, where they were established on a farm for five years.

Mr. Cleminson received but one year of schooling in that place, his services being re- quired in the improvement and cultivation of the home farm. He accompanied his father to El Monte in 1857 and there took up farming. Finally becoming dependent upon his own re- sources he engaged in general farming and dairying on the property which he now oc- cupies, consisting of thirty-six acres, all of which is tillable land and devoted to alfalfa and corn. Like his father and brother, James, he is one of the leading citizens in the up- building of the country, seeking every avenue for the development of the section, giving time, money and personal effort to promote the general progress of the community. He gave the right of way to the Pacific Electric Railway, which will give to this section its greatest impetus toward development. Mr. Cleminson is a Republican, his first vote hav- ing been cast for Lincoln. The highest esteem

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of the community is given to this gentleman for his citizenship, as well as his personal character, which is such as to have won the friendship of those with whom he has had business or social intercourse throughout the long years of his residence in this section.

JOSEPH DEWOLF KING. The horticult- ural interests of San Bernardino are well rep- resented by Mr. King, of Craftonville, where he is rounding out the years of a well spent life among the pleasant surroundings of a Cali- fornia home. He is the representative of one of the old eastern families of Irish descent, his birth occurring in Ravenna, Portage county, Ohio, March 21, 1836; his great-grandfather, Dr. Robert King, came from Ireland to Massa- chusetts and there practiced his profession, mar- ried and reared a family. His son, William, removed with his family to Ravenna, Ohio, and engaged as a farmer and a hotel keeper until his death. John B. King, the father of Joseph D. King, was born in Massachusetts and accompanied his parents to Ohio, where he followed farming and also acted as pro- prietor of King's Tavern. Later he was a member of the banking firm of Robinson-King & Co., and also organized the Second National Bank, of Ravenna, and served as an officer until his death. He married Miss Caroline Mary Selby, who was born in Canandaigua, N. Y .. a daughter of Ira Selby, of English de- scent, and who removed to Ohio and became a judge in Portage county. Mrs. King died in Ohio, leaving a family of six children, one son, Ira S., serving in the Civil war as hospital steward, surviving the struggle, and making his home in Michigan until his death, which occurred in 1903.

Joseph De Wolf King was reared in Ravenna and educated in its public schools and the Mount Union Seminary, from which institu- tion he was graduated, and then took up the study of law under John L. and H. C. Ranny. continuing so occupied until he had exhausted his supply of funds. He then taught school for one year, and at the end of that time (1858) went.to Texas because of ill health, and in Galveston engaged in the cotton commission business. Six months later he sold out and in Navasota. Tex., engaged with a commercial house until he was driven out by the yellow fever, when he returned north and after his marriage in Vassalboro, Me., in 1860 he en- gaged in farming near Ravenna. His work was interrupted by the call to arms in 1861, and he immediately set to work to raise a battery, known as the Twelfth Ohio Battery, he being in command, and this was later

consolidated with the First Ohio Artillery, Battery I, and he then became first lieutenant. He was taken prisoner in Virginia on the upper Potomac in 1862, and for two and a half months he was imprisoned in Lynchburg, Salisbury and Libby. He was then paroled and was stationed at Camp Lew Wallace, at Columbus, Ohio, in command of paroled artillery, and after remaining there for several months became impatient for his exchange, and then resigned his commission.

Returning to Ravenna he followed farming until 1888, when he went to the Sandwich Islands via California, and there accepted a position as principal in a government school on Kauai Island and continued thus occupied for the period of three years. Resigning in 1891 he returned to the United States and lo- cating in Redlands, Cal., purchased the prop- erty he now owns, consisting of twenty acres devoted to valencia oranges. He has built a residence here, barns, etc, and also owns ten acres at Crafton Station. His home is in Craftonville, on King street, between High- land and Fifth avenues. His wife was former- ly Miss Lucy L. Homans, a native of Vassal- boro, Me., and a daughter of Benjamin Ho- mans, a native of that state also. The paternal grandfather, Stephen Gray Otis Homans, was born in England, and after coming to America located in Boston, where the family owned the long wharf. Later he removed to Maine and engaged as a merchant in Vassalboro, which business Benjamin Homans also fol- lowed. The younger man married Elizabeth Bunker Weeks, a native of Nantucket, and daughter of Capt. Reuben Weeks, commander of a whaler as were his sons, Edward and Daniel. He died in Iowa at the advanced age of eight-five years. Of their three sons and one daughter, three are now living, Mrs. King having received her education in the Coney Female Academy, and later the Tappan Female Seminary of Ravenna, where she completed the course.

Mr. and Mrs. King are the parents of two children, Stephen Gray Otis, a graduate of the Western Reserve College, of Ohio, and now manager of an oil refinery in Oakland, Cal .; and Fred Bunker, a jeweler in Redlands. Fraternally Mr. King is identified with the Knights of Pythias and belongs to Bear Valley Post No. 126. Grand . Army of the Republic, of Redlands. He is a Universalist in his religious beliefs, and politically he is a Republican. He is a member of the Board of Trade of Red- lands, the Redlands Fruit Exchange, and a director in the Southern California Fruit Ex- change. He is a member and one of the organizers of the California State Audubon So-

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ciety, and is ou the membership committee. He is one of the esteemed and able citizens of this section and is justly named among the representative men who have brought this por- tion of Southern California to rank with the most highly developed and improved of the state.

CLARENCE EVERETT IVESON. Born at Addison, Lenawee county, Mich., December 27, 1868, Clarence Everett Iveson is the son of Benjamin and Jane (Abbott) Iveson, both na- tives of New York state. The father was a contractor and builder and died a middle-aged man, while the mother is residing in Redlands and is now Mrs. Cleveland. Of their ten chil- dren Mr. Iveson is the youngest and lived in Addison until nine years of age, when the fam- ily removed to a farm in Wheatland, Hills- dale county, Mich., where he had the advantages of the public and high schools. In November, 1887, he came to Redlands, Cal., where for some time he followed carpentering and later began the pursuit of horticulture and was for seven years superintendent of the E. C. Stir- ling ranch. In 1902 he was appointed superin- tendent of streets of Redlands and held the office for twenty months. His next appointment to the same position was in April, 1906, since which time he gives it all his attention and best ef- forts and is filling the position with credit and satisfaction.

In Redlands June 12, 1894, Mr. Iveson was married to Miss Lucie Underwood, a native of Palmyra, Mich., and by this union there are three children, namely: Alethea, Charles and Ellen. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Woodmen of the World, Modern Woodmen of America and Independent Order of Foresters. He is a member of the Redlands Board of Trade and politically is a Republican. Mr. Iveson is a young man who has worked his own way, is a self made man in the best sense implied by the term, and is well and favorably known in the community where he has passed so many years of his life.

HON. WILLIS E. PUTNAM. Now re- tired from the active cares of business life, Hon. Willis E. Putnam is making his home in Redlands and participating in the develop- ment and advancement of the city's interests. He was born in Germantown, Juneau county, WVis., September 6, 1857, the second in a family of seven children, of whom six are now living. His father, T. W. Putnam, was born in Cen- tralia, N. Y., where the paternal grandfather, Gilbert (a grand-nephew of Israel Putnam),

engaged as a farmer. T. W. Putnam removed to Wisconsin in an early day and engaged as a farmer; later locating in Wabasha county, Minn., he followed a similar occupation. in Missouri he engaged as a merchant and in lowa as a builder, and finally removing to Dodge county, Neb., le improved a homestead. He is now retired and makes his home in Red- lands. His wife, formerly Lucretia Towne, a native of New York, is also living. She is a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and active in its charities.

Willis E. Putnam was thirteen years old when taken by his parents to Nebraska, and he there completed his education in the public schools. He was twenty years old when he left home to become dependent upon his own resources, in April, 1878, going to the Black Hills, where he followed mining and prospect- ing for about nine years. A part of this time he was located in Idaho, in the Coeur d'Alene inines. Returning to Dakota he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land, homesteaded a similar acreage, and took up a tree claim also of one hundred and sixty acres. This was in Lawrence county (now Meade), and there he improved his property, erecting a residence, barns, outbuildings, etc., and en- gaged in general farming and the raising of cattle. Returning to Nebraska in 1892, he pur- chased a farm of two hundred acres in the Elk Horn valley and engaged in the raising of corn and cattle for a number of years, when he once more located in Dakota and rented land. Dis- posing of his farming interests in the fall of 1906 he came to Southern California and has since made Redlands his home, having pre- vionsly come here in 1902 and purchased the property which he now owns at No. 120 Still- man avenue.

While a resident of Dakota Mr. Putnam was elected to the state legislature from Meade county, on the Republican ticket, being a mem- ber of the second assembly; the close of the term found him in Nebraska. In January, 1906, he was appointed a member of the board of trustees of Redlands to fill a vacancy. In the same year he became a candidate on the good government ticket and was elected to the position, which he is now fiilling. He is a member of the Board of Trade and active in his interests to advance the general welfare of the community. He has always voted the straight Republican ticket and is thoroughly imbued with its principles, although he is too loyal a citizen to let politics interfere with his ideas of good government.

In South Dakota, February 18, 1888, Mr. Putnam was united in marriage with Miss Grace Lewis, a native of Springfield, Mass.,

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and a daughter of Samuel A. Lewis, born in Montpelier, Vt. The paternal grandfather was a native of Vermont and a pioneer settler of Minnesota; later in life he returned to New England and located in Massachusetts. Samuel A. Lewis was in a Minnesota regiment during the Civil war and served against the Sioux Indians, and after the close of this strife he returned to Massachusetts and engaged in a mercantile enterprise. Later he followed the stock business in South Dakota, and finally re- turned to Massachusetts, and is now living retired in Athol. His wife, formerly Cynthia Childs, a native of Vermont, died in South Dakota. They had two children, of whom Mrs. Putnam was the elder. She is the mother of the following children: Harold, Meryl, Clyde, Ross, Edgar and Majorie. Mrs. Putnam is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Putnam was made a Mason in Scribner Lodge No. 132, in Nebraska, and both himself and wife are members of the Order of Eastern Star in Redlands. He is also identi- fied with the Modern Woodmen of America.

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A history of California and an extended history of its southern coast counties, also containing biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present, Volume II, Part 43

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company Number of Pages: 1234

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company
Number of Pages: 1234